If you’re an animation fan, then you know that Pixar not only produces some of the best animated films, but they also produce some of the best animated shorts around. It’s been nearly eight years since the first volume of shorts was released, so it’s exciting that Pixar finally accumulated enough shorts to release another collection: Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2.
The Films ★★★★ 1/2
Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2 is a compilation of shorts starting with Your Friend the Rat through Time Travel Mater. It’s great that all of these shorts have been put together in this collection, especially considering many of them are scattered across various Pixar DVDs.
Of course, the shorts are all fun and perfectly polished pieces of art (excuse the alliteration). My personal favorites were the Toy Story Toon, Hawaiian Vacation (I’m a sucker for Ken), Day and Night (gotta love the venture into 2D animation), Presto, La Luna…heck, they’re all good. My only qualm is that there are far less original shorts in this collection compared to the first, which is understandable considering Pixar wants to capitalize on the success of its characters.
The Features ★★★★
The features are bit more substantial that what I expected (I was expecting there not to be any at all). My favorites were the collection of student shorts from various Pixar directors John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor. It’s great to see where these Pixar legends got their start and fascinating to see how their shorts connect with their future work (for example: both of John Lasseter’s shorts were about inanimate objects coming to life, which would later be the focus of many Pixar films such as Toy Story and Cars).
Each short has the option to watch it with commentary from the director and other production personnel. This was a nice touch and allowed you to go further in-depth into each of these spectacular little shorts. So if you’re a commentary-o-phile like me, you’ll most likely jump to watching the shorts with the commentary first!
Final Thoughts
Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2 is a must-have for any Pixar fan’s collection. While the majority of these shorts can be found elsewhere, it’s nice to have them all conveniently in one place for when you have a hankering to watch them all at once. This collection, combined with the Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1, is a showcase of some of Pixar’s finest work.
Purchase
Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2: DVD | Blu-ray | Digital
